Blake King and his Kelly Cup-winning crew from last year won't be back to defend their title next week.
They've got other fires to extinguish on the ice when they take their place today in Thunder Bay, Ont., for the Canadian Firefighters Curling Association national championship tournament.
King dethroned four-time champion Dean Thulin of Campbell River at the B.C. provincial firefighters championship a couple weeks ago in Victoria. He has been to the national final five times but this will be his first as part of an all-Prince George team.
Kings, 56, skips a team which includes Cliff Warner, Trent Blair and Jay Winkel. That same lineup - which also included John Iverson - defeated James Knievel of Manning, Alta., 8-7 in 11 ends in the 2017 Kelly Cup final.
King, Warner, Blair and Winkel have curled together for the past eight years. They beat Thulin 7-6 in an extra end in the provincial firefighters final.
King and Warner have curled together for 25 years and first played in the national championship in 1988 in Truro, N.S. They joined forces with Al Heath of Langley and won four other provincial titles - in 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2002, reaching the final the last three years they were involved.
"We've been second three times, we're going to give it a good go this time," said King.
"This is really special for us. It's the first time we got a team from Prince George to represent the province and it's Trent and Jay's first time here and they're really pumped."
All four work out of the downtown fire hall. King and Warner are deputy chiefs for Prince George Fire Rescue and are the bosses of Blair and Winkel when they're at work. As skip, King retains the trump card over them all.
"This is the only place I can pull rank there, for sure," laughed King.
The firefighters bonspiel starts today with a rather unique way of determining the draw. A ladder fire truck will be set up on the main drag in Thunder Bay and first-round seedings will be determined by firefighters climbing that ladder to select the flag of their opponents.
Each team is responsible for hosting a social event and King says he's brought a load of sockeye salmon to feed the masses when it's B.C.'s turn.
The opening draw starts today at 2:30 p.m. Two draws per day are scheduled for the 11 teams leading up to the playoff round on Friday. Semifinals will be played next Saturday and the final is set for Sunday.
The 91st Kelly Cup championship starts Thursday at the PGGCC. King and Warner have won that five times. Blair, Winkel and Iverson were first-time winners last year.
"We're disappointed we won't be back for it, we're going to be busy," said King. "It would have been nice to defend the Kelly Cup."
